Australians have been warned there will be no “free for all” of spending of public money ahead of the federal election to win over voters in the continuing cost-of-living crisis. Source: News.com.au.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Government would continue “responsible spending” in the lead-up to the next federal election due by May next year, despite the better-than-expected showing by Queensland Labor in Saturday’s state election.
In his first press conference since attending key economic summits in the United States at the weekend, Mr Chalmers flagged responsible economic management as the “defining feature” of the federal Labor Government.
“I want to reassure people and assure people that we will continue to put responsible economic management as the defining feature of this Albanese Labor Government,” Mr Chalmers said.
“This (upcoming federal) election was never going to be, from our side, a free-for-all of public spending.”
Mr Chalmers said Australia had made strides in the battle against inflation, which had halved since the Albanese Government took office in May 2022.
“We are making good progress in the fight against inflation although people are still doing it tough,” Mr Chalmers said.
He said the Government was focusing on “doing the right thing” and letting the politics take care of itself by helping ease cost-of-living pressures over focusing on Saturday’s Queensland election result.
The next chance to see if cost–of-living is falling will come on Wednesday when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases the consumer price index for the September quarter.
Australian mortgage holders will be hoping for a figure of between 2 to 3 per cent, which is the target for the Reserve Bank of Australia.
FULL STORY
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says government won’t go on pre-election spending spree (By Cameron Micallef, News.com.au)
